Gene Logic, WellCare, Int'l Paper

MichaelBaron

Advancers

American Home Mortgage
AHM
shares ended Tuesday's session higher by 19.2% after the company said that second-quarter net income rose to $65.5 million, or $1.52 a share, from $33.5 million, or 83 cents a share, after revenue climbed to $203.3 million, from $89.2 million. Analysts had pegged earnings per share at $1.21. During the quarter, the company's holdings and originations businesses earned solid profits, while servicing experienced a loss after asset impairments. American Home said that trends in its overall business are strong enough to raise its 2005 adjusted earnings outlook to $4.60 to $4.80 per share, while earnings for 2006 are projected in a range of $4.85 to $5.15 a share. The company also intends to account for its securitizations as financings rather than sales which will reduce quarterly earnings in the near-term, it said.

Caterpillar
CAT, -3.06%
shares surged 5.1% with traders attributing the move to Wall Street commentator Jim Cramer's recommendation to investors to buy the stock ahead of earnings due later this week. Cramer said on CNBC television that he expects Caterpillar has had a "blowout" quarter. The stock could be viewed as an oil play, since Caterpillar provides equipment to oil companies, he said. Caterpillar is expected Thursday to report earnings of $1.01 a share, up from 78 cents a share in the same period a year ago, according to analysts polled by Thomson First Call. Revenue is projected at $8.3 billion, up from $7.1 billion.

CDW Corp.
CDWC
shares gained 9.5% after the company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $67.1 million, or 80 cents a share, up from $58.3 million, or 67 cents a share in the same period a year ago. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call were looking for earnings of 76 cents a share in the period. Sales rose 11.3% to $1.54 billion with average daily sales increasing to $24.1 million.

Check Point Software Technologies
CHKP, -2.55%
shares added 6.6% after the company said second-quarter net profit rose 23% to $78 million, or 31 cents a share, with revenue up 14% to $144.6 million. Growth came from both existing and newly announced product lines, the Internet security firm said. Excluding a penny of acquisition-related charges, it would've earned 32 cents a share, compared to Thomson First Call-compiled broker forecasts of 30 cents a share.

Distributed Energy Systems
DESC, -0.84%
gained 18% after the company lifted its revenue forecast for the second quarter and fiscal 2005 thanks to increased bookings and backlog. The company expects revenue for 2005 to be in the $40 million range compared to previous forecasts of $30 million. For the second quarter, revenue is expected to be above $10 million. Analysts were expecting revenue of $6.7 million for the quarter and $30.3 million for the year, according to consensus forecasts from Thomson First Call.

FileNet Corp.
FILE
shares rose 9.5% after the company reported that its second-quarter net income rose about fourfold to $8.7 million, or 21 cents a share, from $2.2 million, or 5 cents a share, a year before, bolstered by stronger software revenue. The Thomson First Call average analyst estimate was for earnings of 19 cents a share. Revenue strengthened to $104.6 million from $94.1 million.

FTI Consulting
FCN, +0.16%
shares leapt 10.6% after the company said it expects second-quarter earnings of 33 cents a share, compared with 30 cents a year earlier. Earnings for the second quarter of 2005 were reduced by 1 cent for the settlement of potential litigation. The company also said it expects revenue for the quarter to rise 15% to about $123.9 million. A survey of analysts by Thomson First Call puts the average earnings estimate at 31 cents a share. FTI provides corporate consulting.

Gene Logic
GLGC
shares added 7.1% after the company said signed an agreement with General Electric Co.'s
GE, -2.24%
GE Healthcare unit for the global distribution of Gene Logic's Sciantis gene expression analysis system. GE Healthcare will distribute the system in 32 countries and will be the exclusive distributor in Japan. Financial terms of the agreement weren't disclosed.

Genlyte Group
GLYT
shares added 5.4% after the lighting fixtures maker reported second-quarter earnings of $21.5 million, or 76 cents a share, up from $11.5 million, or 42 cents a share in the same period a year ago, and above the average analyst estimate compiled by Thomson First Call of 70 cents a share. Revenue rose 4.9% to $316.2 million from last year's $301.4 million, topping analyst forecasts of $313.9 million. Gross margins improved to 37.3% from 35.7%, helped primarily by price increases.

Shares of GuruNet Corp.
GRU, +0.61%
rose 18.8% after the company said it's received approval of its application to list its shares on the Nasdaq National Market. The New York-based company, which created the Answers.com Internet search engine, expects to begin trading on the Nasdaq at the beginning of August under the ticker symbol 'ANSW.' It will also change its corporate name to Answers Corp.

ICU Medical
ICUI, -2.68%
shares advanced 6.2% after the company reported second-quarter earnings of $4.7 million, or 31 cents a share, up 39% from $3.4 million, or 23 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue rose 91% to $40.7 million from $21.7 million last year. The medical connectors maker also raised its 2005 forecast to earning of $1.06 to $1.08 a share on revenue of about $140 million.

International Paper
IP, +0.11%
shares gained 5.1% after the company said it would concentrate on just two areas of its business with more than 70% of its sales -- uncoated papers and industrial and consumer packaging -- selling or spinning off its stakes in various wood products and other units to return $8 billion to $10 billion to the company as debt repayment and shareholder payouts. International Paper also said it would sell a 50.5% stake in a New Zealand forest products subsidiary, convert some paper mills and close some packaging plants in a re-alignment expected to be complete by 2007. IP currently based in Stamford, Conn., said it would evaluate in the next 30 days the possibility of moving its corporate headquarters to Memphis, Tenn.

Jefferies Group
JEF, -0.65%
shares tacked on 5.9% after the company said its second-quarter net income rose 11% as investment banking revenues hit an all time high. The company reported net income of $35.4 million, or 53 cents a share for the latest quarter, compared to $31.8 million, or 50 cents a share a year ago. The latest quarter EPS was ahead of the average analyst estimate of 50 cents a share, as compiled by Thomson First Call. Investment banking revenue at the firm climbed to $102.5 million from $83.6 million a year ago. Total revenue rose to $344.2 million from $277.2 million a year ago. Also, the company said President John Shaw is stepping down immediately. Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Handler will add the title of president. See full story.

Manpower
MAN, -1.50%
shares jumped 13.3% after the staffing services company reported second-quarter earnings of $62.5 million, or 70 cents a share, up from $53.1 million, or 56 cents a share in the same period a year ago, and above the average analyst estimate compiled by Thomson First Call of 64 cents a share. Revenue rose 12% to $4.05 billion from last year's $3.62 billion, vs. analyst forecasts of $4.06 billion. Excluding the impact of currencies, earnings would have been 68 cents a share on revenue growth of 8%. For the third-quarter, the employment services company expects earnings of 81 to 85 cents a share, surrounding analyst projections of 83 cents a share. See full story.

Shares of Miva Inc.
MIVA, +0.50%
leapt 22.4% after the company received an upgrade from Adams Harkness to buy from market perform. Analyst Colin Gillis believes the most likely outcome of the company's patent issues with Yahoo
YHOO
is a settlement, with Yahoo taking an equity stake in Miva. Gillis thinks the performance marketing services provider is an appealing buyout target for Yahoo, or other company looking to boost their exposure to Europe or enter the paid search business.

Precision Castparts
PCP, -31.78%
shares added 8.7% after the aerospace company's higher first-quarter earnings and revenue were stronger than Wall Street had expected. "Another cracking quarter from PCP, setting it up very nicely for the rest of the year," wrote Banc of America Securities analyst Robert Stallard in a Tuesday research note.

Shares of Spire Corp.
SPIR, +175.00%
soared 50.7% after the Bedford, Mass., company said it has received an order for four of its Spi-Sun Simulator 350i photovoltaic module testers from First Solar LLC, a private company based in Perrysburg, Ohio. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Shares of The Sportsman's Guide
SGDE
gained 13.2% after the St. Paul, Minn., outdoor products retailer forecast second-quarter earnings of 28 to 30 cents a share on sales of between $63 million to $64 million, ahead of Wall Street's current consensus estimates for a profit of 20 cents a share on sales of $56 million in the period. The company cited the strong performance of its golf business and increased Internet-related sales for the higher outlook.

Staktek Holdings
STAK
shares added 6.3% after the company renewed and expanded a five-year-old licensing agreement with Samsung Electronics Co. The original deal, signed in July of 2000, covered stacking packaged DRAM memory chips using Staktek's technology. Under the terms of the expanded deal, Staktek said Samsung will be able to use its leaded package stacking technology for any Samsung leaded device, such as DRAMs, SRAMs and Flash memory, until 2010. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Steven Madden
SHOO, -3.03%
shares surged 14.2% after the company said that, based on better-than-expected sales at the wholesale and retail level, it now expects second-quarter sales of $100 to $101 million, up from $86.2 million in the same period a year ago. The Long Island City, NY-based footwear company said it expects earnings to beat estimates, coming in at 36 to 39 cents a share, buoyed by improving shipments and margins. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call is for second-quarter earnings of 15 cents a share. The company expects 2005 sales to grow in the mid single digits, yielding earnings of 90 to 93 cents a share, well above the First Call estimate of 63 cents a share.

United Auto Group
UAG, -1.37%
shares rose 6.6% after the company said net income for the second quarter was $33.2 million, or 71 cents a share, including $1.2 million in after-tax severance charges. In the same quarter a year ago, the group said net income was 71 cents a share, including a 9 cent a share after-tax gain. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call projected earnings per share of 68 cents for the second quarter. Revenue rose 20% to $2.7 billion. "Total service and parts revenue increased 22.3% to $281 million in the quarter, helping to drive our gross margin increase," the company explained.

Shares of WellCare Health Plans
WCG, -4.92%
added 6.1% after the company said it has been awarded Medicaid managed care contracts in all six regions of Georgia. Revenues from the contracts are expected to total $570 million to $600 million in 2006, WellCare said, with pretax income ranging from $17.1 million to $20 million. The managed care services provider said it expects to record related pretax expenses of $8 million to $10 million in the second half of 2005. Excluding the Georgia contracts, WellCare Plans also affirmed its previously issued 2005 forecast.

Decliners

Avon Products'
AVP, -2.35%
shares ended the session down 14.5% after the company offered a disappointing outlook for the full year. Avon expects profit for the year to be between $2.03 and $2.08 a share, less than Thomson First Call broker estimates of $2.14 a share. The company said second-quarter earnings rose to $328.6 million, or 69 cents a share, from $232.3 million, or 49 cents, including a 20 cent-per-share tax benefit, which was 3 cents a share more than previously forecast. The profit was higher than Thomson First Call forecasts of 66 cents a share. Sales rose 6% to $1.96 billion, lower than its expectations due to an unexpected temporary decline in China and lower-than-anticipated revenue growth in Central and Eastern Europe. See full story.

Faro Technologies Inc.
FARO, -1.80%
shares dropped 9.6% after the company reported second-quarter sales of $30.9 million compared with $24.1 million in the same quarter last year. New order bookings for the period came in at $34.5 million vs. $21.9 million in the year-ago quarter, while Faro's backlog grew to $6.1 million, an increase of $3.6 million. The maker of portable, computerized measurement devices said that lower gross margin, higher SG&A expenses as a percentage of sales and a short-term inability to ship late-arriving orders will cause its second-quarter per-share profit to be "significantly less" than the 29 cents reported in the second quarter of 2004.

Monolithic Power Systems'
MPWR, -5.63%
shares fell 19.3% after the company said a jury found that the company willfully infringed certain trade secrets belonging to O2Micro International Ltd.
OIIM, -1.75%
and awarded O2Micro $12 million in damages. O2Micro, on the other hand, was found to not have infringed on a number of Monolithic patents. Monolithic said it will consider all of its legal options, including post-trial motions and appeal, after the judge enters a final judgment in the case. At last check, shares of both companies had been halted. Shares of O2Micro rose 17% in morning trades.

Pacific Capital Bancorp
PCBC, +3.98%
shares dropped 10.6% after the company said it expects second-quarter earnings in the range of 29 to 31 cents a share, below the current Thomson First Call average estimate of earnings of 39 cents a share. The Santa Barbara, Calif. company attributed the cut in its outlook to a lower level of collections on refund anticipation loans, higher-than-expected consulting expenses linked to the conversion of its information technology system as well as higher losses from securities transactions.

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